Closing the Firepower Gap

By PHILLIP THOMPSON

Phillip Thompson is a Marine Corps veteran and a senior fellow with the Lexington Institute, a public-policy research group in Arlington, Va.

An intriguing irony emerged for the Marine Corps in the mid-1980s: Its infantry, long famed as ground troops who moved, however tirelessly, on foot, was suddenly in a position to outrun its artillery support.

One of the causes of the infantry’s new-found speed was the Light Armored Vehicle (LAV), then a new acquisition, which gave ground forces the means to fight almost like cavalry or as modern dragoons—maneuvering to the point of attack, then fighting dismounted.

In either case, however, the speed and range of the LAV left artillerymen in the dust. The M101A1 105mm howitzers, although light and relatively easy to handle, could not reach out and touch the enemy at long ranges, nor could they deliver a particularly powerful punch. The M114 155mm howitzers—called "pigs"—had greater range and lethality, but also greater bulk and weight.

Anticipating an imminent firepower gap, the Corps bought and in 1982 fielded the M198 ("Niner Eight") 155mm towed howitzer, which is capable of firing rocket-assisted projectiles and a variety of munitions, including Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICM—the artillery’s answer to the cluster bombs dropped from airplanes), up to 30 kilometers.

That range is sufficient to support Marine maneuver forces, a quality that to some extent makes up for the system’s deficiencies in mobility. In Desert Storm, no Marine force ever actually outran its umbrella of artillery support, according to Marine Maj. Kevin McConnell, artillery requirements officer at the USMC’s Combat Development Command in Quantico, Va.

Heavy Burdens And Fragile Emotions

Unfortunately, certain problems with the Niner Eight arose almost immediately: cracks in the muzzle, excessive wear on the carriage (caused primarily by the lack of a suspension system), and cracks in the welds, to name a few.

As the speed of warfare continued to increase, the M198, which weighs 16,000 pounds, seemed heavier every day, and made many think the howitzer was not mobile enough for the Corps. Only the Corps’ burliest helicopter, the CH-53E Super Stallion, could lift it, and the M198’s prime mover, a five-ton truck, struggled to transport the piece.

With then-emerging high-speed platforms such as the Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) already entering the inventory—and the MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft and Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAAV) on the drawing board—the Corps found itself evolving away from its traditional style of warfare, which required a significant buildup of combat power at the water’s edge before moving inland. Instead, Marines began to envision a day when they would penetrate inland by as much as 200 miles.

What the Corps really needed, officials decided, was a slimmed-down version of the howitzer, one with the range and lethality of the M198, but lighter and not as fragile.

"The weight was more an emotional issue than a reality," McConnell said. "The number one reason we needed the Lightweight Howitzer was the maintenance problems with the Niner Eight."

Thus was the Lightweight Howitzer program born.

All the Firepower, Half the Weight

The Lightweight Howitzer (M777) program is now a joint Marine Corps-Army venture, with the Marine Corps serving as the lead agency. The M777 will replace all of the Marine Corps’ M198 howitzers and all of the M198s in the Army’s general-support battalions.

One of the Corps’ first requirements for the Lightweight Howitzer was that it be transportable by the MV-22 Osprey, which is slated to replace the Corps’ Vietnam-era fleet of CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters. At just over 9,300 pounds, the M777 howitzer is lighter in weight than the Niner Eight, but it is no less lethal. The new howitzer is fitted with a 155mm tube capable of firing the same family of munitions as the M198, including the rocket-assisted projectiles. But firing munitions designed for a 16,000-pound howitzer from one that weighs 9,320 pounds presented several challenges. Any excessive rearward movement of the howitzer caused by firing not only degrades accuracy but also can be dangerous for the crew. Moreover, the stress placed on the metal welds, howitzer trails, and spades can cause cracks in the carriage and trails.

The solution was to use titanium, an extremely light but very strong metal. "We pushed technology absolutely as far as it will go to make the Light-weight Howitzer similar to the 198," McConnell said. "Titanium is a high-tech strong metal, but it flexes."

The Marine Corps learned about titanium’s flexibility in testing when crews tried to operate the howitzer’s projectile cradle at a 10-degree cant. To counter the flex, metallurgists and engineers redesigned the cradle, giving it more weight and stronger welds.

Procurement Decision in 2001

The result of all the designs, evaluations, and tests came to fruition this June, when prime contractor BAE Systems delivered the first of eight howitzers to the Corps for testing. The delivery capped more than a decade of studies and demonstrations and about three years of actual program development, McConnell said. Another seven test guns will be delivered this winter.

All eight of the M777s will go through developmental and operational testing, expected to be completed early next year. The developmental testing includes evaluations conducted by the contractor, under government supervision, and tests conducted by specialized crews designated by the contractor. Training requirements and syllabuses are determined during this phase, and all military requirements are evaluated and validated.

Developmental testing is currently being conducted at the Army Proving Grounds in Yuma, Ariz., McConnell said. As the term implies, the operational testing involves actual Army and Marine crews putting the howitzer through its paces at various times and in various climes—desert, jungle, cold weather, etc.

Once all required tests have been completed, officials from the Marine Corps and the Department of the Navy will make their final decision on procurement of the howitzer. That decision is expected toward the middle or end of next year, McConnell said.

Congress already has approved funding for 450 howitzers, and a total budget of about $590 million for the entire program, including the R&D and test phases. The first howitzers are expected to be issued to the Fleet Marine Force (FMF) in about four years.

Fire Support … From the Sea

Welcome though it may be, the Lightweight Howitzer is but one element of what the Navy and Marine Corps call "Advanced Expeditionary Fire Support (AEFS)," the subject of a key Marine Corps concept paper.

The concept paper emphasizes the fact that the need for a light, powerful artillery system is accentuated by the imminent arrival of the two remaining legs of the Corps’ "amphibious triad," the Osprey and the AAAV. These platforms, like the LCAC, promise to extend the Corps’ reach and speed to levels never before possible. Consequently, fire-support systems must be able to respond with more speed, accuracy, and volume. Indeed, the Corps’ basic "Operational Maneuver From the Sea" (OMFTS) doctrine—the blueprint for future Marine Corps amphibious and expeditionary operations—describes fire support as an integrated system of platforms, rather than a single weapon system.

Although not radically different from the previous USMC doctrine, which emphasizes the use of integrated aviation support and naval surface fires to support a landing force, AEFS does articulate a more synergistic approach in which all fire-support systems—ground, sea, and air—will extend to and well beyond the beach in an effort to sustain the momentum created by a successful forced landing from the sea.

For ground-based fire support, according to the AEFS paper, this means a system that " … can cover the spectrum of fire-support requirements of commanders at the platoon through Marine Expeditionary Force levels."

The Lightweight Howitzer fits that definition, according to Maj. Gen. (Select) William A. Whitlow, head of the Expeditionary Warfare Division in the office of the chief of naval operations. "Now, you will have a flight of V-22s moving an entire battery hundreds of miles inland," he said. "That gives us a tremendous amount of flexibility and more capabilities than … we have ever had. It’s much better than the ponderous old way of doing things."

Whitlow, a former Marine Expeditionary Unit commander, pointed out another important advantage of the M777: Its lighter weight makes it more manageable aboard ship, where space is always at a premium.

Perhaps with the cumbersome M198 in mind, the AEFS concept paper also points out that ground-based systems—including the M777—must minimize logistical support requirements and possess tactical mobility equal to that of ground maneuver forces; it also should be as self-sustaining as possible, of course.

The Towed Artillery Digitalization (TAD) system, an onboard computer system that can be removed from the howitzer during tactical movement, fits in nicely with this plan, because it allows a towed howitzer to be surveyed into position autonomously. Much like the Army’s self-propelled Paladin howitzer, an M777 fitted with the TAD system will be capable of navigating, locating, and orienting itself and computing its own firing data.

Beyond the M777

Marines—even artillerymen—are quick to point out that the Lightweight Howitzer is not the final answer to all of the Corps’ long-term ground fire- support needs. Indeed, Marine Commandant Gen. James L. Jones issued an edict earlier this year to Headquarters Marine Corps to close the growing firepower gap, particularly during the STOM (ship-to-objective-maneuver) phase of expeditionary operations.

Another part of the Corps’ solution to the long-term fire-support problem has been the acquisition of HIMARS, the High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System, a truck-mounted version of the Army’s Multiple Launch Rocket System. In a corollary effort at the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab in Quantico, Marines also are evaluating such concepts as the use of remote-controlled mortars.

The Navy and Marine Corps also are studying emerging naval gunfire technology that would enable surface ships to deliver fires from hundreds of miles at sea.

"I think we are still a generation away from tubeless artillery to a platform that can be fired from … a DD-21 type of ship," Whitlow said, referring to the Navy’s next-generation land- attack destroyer. But, he quickly pointed out, even in an age of over-the-horizon weapons, in which ranges are measured by hundreds of miles, the Corps still requires responsive artillery fires, in large volume. "We will always need, especially in low-intensity conflict, fires that suppress and break contact," Whitlow said.

McConnell, himself an artilleryman, agrees, and said the Corps likely will have the M777 in its inventory for years to come. "There will always be masses [of opposing forces] coming together," he said. "The only way to separate those masses is with volume [of fire]—sustained volume. And you can get that only from artillery."